Positive Plant Project

Long ago the idea of patenting seeds would have sounded ridiculous to the average person, not from the aspect of this being scientifically impossible but from a moral standpoint. Nobody would have believed that governments would allow corporations to have that much control over nature. Things and times have radically changed since then and now several companies have put their signature stamps on seeds.

The control of seeds and other natural resources is a step in the direction of total control. Patient, organized, calculating individuals made long term plans to slowly take away people’s freedoms. These plans are designed to be carried out over several lifetimes. Elites of today were handed the mantle of deception by their elders and they in turn will pass it on to their offspring. In each generation they attempt to deprive people of a particular freedom. The current generation is born into a world without experiencing the liberties of the previous generation and as a result many of them consider it the norm. Totalitarianism will result if they are not stopped.

Who are they? Greedy corporations, governments and old money bloodlines.

In a totalitarian world the consumer will not own anything. Instead, consumers will be granted rights to use products in a certain way.

Restricted use after purchasing currently happens in the agriculture and technology industries. Consumers have been sued for modifying their mobile phones and video game consoles and farmers have been sued for growing patented seeds without signing a contract.

If biotechnology companies achieve total domination of the agricultural industry the next step will be for them to focus all efforts on patenting humans.

Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Percy Schmeiser

The case of Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Percy Schmeiser started when Percy Schmeiser, a canola farmer sprayed an area of weeds with roundup herbicide and discovered that after the weeds had dried up a few canola crops remained unaffected.

The discovery prompted him to perform a test in which he sprayed three acres of his canola field with the roundup herbicide. After the spraying he noticed that 60% of the canola survived. Schmeiser separated the herbicide resistant variety from the organic and cultivated them separately. In 1998 Monsanto discovered that he was cultivating the crop and requested that he sign a license agreement to their patents and pay an annual fee. His refusal resulted in the biotech company taking him to court and winning.

Important things to note in the case is that the farmer was not sued for the crop that accidentally found its way on the farm but for the intentional cultivation after his discovery.

The canola In the case of Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Percy Schmeiser had been modified to be resistant to glyphosate, a main ingredient in Monsanto’s roundup herbicide. When crops are modified to be resistant to a herbicide farmers can spray the entire field indiscriminately. Farmers who use the genetically modified canola are required to sign an agreement prohibiting the saving of seeds, which means they have to buy new seeds every year.

Although farmers are not currently sued when their fields have been accidently germinated with patented seeds, the problem of proving that it was an accident and the threat of original crops being wiped out leaving farmers with no option but to use the genetically modified strain still poses a major problem.

Farming Is The Foundation Of Civilization

A monopoly on food is a monopoly on the world. Biotechnology companies realize that agriculture is the most powerful industry in the world; they spend millions researching on how to modify seeds so they may be granted patents.

Nature is perfect as is and there is no need for genetic modification. The age old tradition of saving seeds has served humanity for centuries.

The biotech patenting is a vicious virus. If not quarantined then everything people eat will be owned by corporations.

Organic Community

In order to combat the monopoly on food we need a community of cultivation, cooperation and exchange which is what the positive plant project is all about. A community starts with a mindset and does not need a central location to be powerful. When a community is united by an idea and not a geographical region it becomes a powerful decentralized system that is difficult to monitor and control.

People fight genetically modified food in different ways. Some march in the street, some protest online, others only buy organic, some donate to organizations that support organic farming. However if everyone who supported organic just took two simple steps we would advance much further.

Step One: Plant

Choose a crop you resonate with, something that suits your environment and is easy for you to manage. Container gardening suits a city setting while rural areas are more suitable for planting directly in the earth. Do some research on the crop and see if there is a genetically modified version, if so be sure to get the organic variety.

Step Two: Share With Someone

When your crops are ready to reap invite a friend over and offer them some of your produce. Explain to her the dangers genetically modified foods pose to freedom and how what you’re doing directly helps humanity and the earth. Kindly ask your friend if she could contribute to the positive plant project by planting something of her own. If she agrees then you have influenced one more person to make a positive change. If she doesn’t wish to take part then at the least you have made someone aware of important issues. Sometimes individuals act on suggestions years after they have been planted so your friend might come around. You can always tell more people.

More crops can be added to the project but it’s best to start with one. Our ambitions when beginning something are sometimes too high and as a result we cannot manage the workload. This often results in failure.

Unity

If everyone plants at least one thing we will have our own organic world that is detached from the system.

We can contribute to the preservation of organic foods in different ways but planting one thing is something we should all have in common. Planting is a badge of honour to show that you are genuinely part of the organic community.

We can have our own self sustainable organic world. A system detached from the system.